How do you take a self-funded SaaS startup from idea to acquisition without outside investment? In this post, I share how I helped build audIT’s go-to-market strategy from the ground up — including the campaign that put us on the map and the partnerships that fueled our growth through to acquisition by Kaseya.
You don’t always get to choose your moment.
Sometimes your moment chooses you.
When I joined the audIT team, it wasn’t through a job board or pitch deck. It was through a friend… trying to get me to shut down someone else’s pitch.
Let me explain.
Before what was then called the audIT Technical Assessment System was even live, I was introduced to the founding team by the programmer. There were four of them: the founder, a graphic designer, one of the founder’s MSP employees, and the programmer himself. They were debating how to take the product to market — and my friend didn’t like the founder’s sales approach. He brought me in hoping I’d talk him out of it.
But within 30 seconds of hearing the pitch, I knew the founder was exactly right.
I didn’t just like the pitch — I saw the potential. This wasn’t a technical tool. It was something much more powerful: a sales presentation system. A consultative salesperson in a box. I remember thinking, “I wish I had this when I was running my marketing agency.” It reframed complex tech services in a way buyers could immediately understand — and say yes to.
The only change I suggested? The name.
Becoming the Fifth Beatle
As the team opened up to friends and family, I became the fifth partner. My focus: sales and marketing. We had no funding — just a tool we believed in, a lot of hustle, and the willingness to make it work.
Our first real launch was at a trade show. We scraped together just enough to get the smallest sponsorship slot. I handled everything:
- Sales trial funnel
- Updated website messaging
- Booth design and positioning
- Collateral and conversion copy
- And yes — I was the one standing at the booth, booking demos I would later deliver
By the end of that event, we had enough paying customers to not only cover the expenses — but to build momentum.
Building Project Sugar Daddy (Yes, Really)
With traction building, we needed scale. That’s when I quietly launched Project Sugar Daddy — a name that made me wince then and still makes me question putting it in a blog now. Let’s just say it was internally amusing.
The campaign — more appropriately called “Project Find a Benefactor” now that I’m reading this out loud — was a targeted demand-gen initiative aimed at key industry influencers, specifically those who ran events and trade shows.
The idea was simple:
- Map the value to them, not just to us
- Position audIT as a tool that helped their members sell more
- Run a targeted outreach and social ad campaign to spark interest
It worked.
One major influencer reached out immediately. We pitched. He was in. He offered us a keynote spot on his national event tour — plus a free booth on the show floor. All we had to do was cover travel.
That one campaign funded the next year of growth.
And it put audIT on the map.
Scaling to Acquisition
Momentum kept building:
- We hit a 52% trial-to-paid conversion rate
- Grew to $1.1M in ARR
- Became a known player in the MSP space
Eventually, three companies entered acquisition conversations with us. We chose Kaseya — where I’m proud to work today.
And In the End
This wasn’t just a GTM success story. It was a story of belief, alignment, and building with clarity and consistency.
We didn’t wait for funding — we built growth with value-first marketing.
We didn’t need hype — we needed a product that sells.
We didn’t follow the playbook — we wrote one.
And it worked.
P.S. I hate typical blog endings—especially now that AI ends up writing so many of them. Section headings like “Summary” or “Final Thoughts”? Meh.
And since it’s my blog, I’ll use my wrap-up section titles as a nod to the greatest musical group of all time: The Beatles.